A New Beginning?
by crystalblu
Summary: Sequel to 2nd Season. The 'prophecy' was completed - or was it? And what's more, Archie still needs to confess to Atlanta fully, and will Neil - yes Neil - ever like someone other than himself?
1. A Stranger By the Door

**My first time writing this 'type' of fanfic ^^; Please enjoy~  
**

========== **Chapter 01 - A Stranger By the Door **==========

A few weeks had already passed by since there were any 'Cronus attacks'. The gang was sitting in the living room of the Brownstone in the morning before going to school, watching television and wondering what was going on.

"Maybe villains need a break sometimes as well." Theresa joked.

"Well, that's good." Neil spoke as he looked into his hand-mirror, "The less fighting, the lower the chances that I'll wreck my handsome face! Oh, wait. I'm too lucky to injure myself!" He laughed.

"Could it be that he finally gave up on crushing us because he knows that he can't ever win?" Atlanta threw the idea into the pile of confusion, even though she knew that it was highly unlikely of him to do so.

Jay shook his head disapprovingly. "There's no way that he would do that." He proceeded to stand up. "Guys. We have to be extra careful from now on. He's obviously playing with us right now so that we'll be off guard."

"Jay is right." Odie agreed. "We don't know what will be Cronus' next moves. We should stick together."

* * *

Meanwhile, Cronus was planning something in his hideout. "Where can he be?" He mumbled. Several weeks ago, the Oracle told him that the prophecy - of seven teenagers will bring Cronus down - was fullfilled. However, it did not signal the end of the threat.

_That was only the prequel to the true destiny._ The Oracle had told him, _Once the eighth member joins the group, that you will be brought to your doom._

"That old man..." Cronus continued, "He serves everyone, hmm?"

Cronus was devising a plan to find the eighth member of the heroes as soon as possible, since he is still unknown to them. "This will give me an advantage," He smirked, "and once I find him, I will be able to pursuade him to join me, and the true prophecy will not be fullfilled!"

He stood up and called his minions. "Have you found him yet?" He yelled at them. They did not respond and Cronus threw a stone at them. "You useless things! Always making me do all the work I tell you to do!" Cronus stomped off into his portal.

* * *

Back at Olympus High School, the heroes are getting ready for school. Archie was standing at his locker mirror, trying to practise so he could ask Atlanta out casually. As usual, the other boys were laughing at him.

"Come on Archie, you don't have to rehearse all the time, just say it!" Odie chuckled.

"Odie is right," Jay began as he picked up his books from his locker, "You've been with us long enough. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

"Says the guy who's already made a move on his girl..." Archie mumbled.

Jay turned towards Neil, "Why don't you help Archie a bit?"

"ME?" Neil said exasperatedly, "I have no problems in getting girls, so I can't help him! Why ME?"

"Because you don't have anything else to do but admire yourself?" Archie angrily replied, "I don't need your help, Neil. Your the last person that I'll ask help from for tips." He closed his locker door with velocity and walked away. The remaining gang glared at Neil.

"What's his problem?" Neil shrugged.

"Jay!"

Jay looked around and saw Theresa and Atlanta approaching the boys.

"What's up?" Jay asked curiously.

"We should go and ask the Oracle and see if he knows what Cronus is up to!" Theresa replied, panting from the small jog. Jay nodded approvingly in response.

Atlanta looked around. "Hey, where did Archie go? I thought that he had class with you guys first thing today."

"Oh, he wanted some solitary time." Neil replied quickly, which resulted in Atlanta raising an eyebrow.

As the group started to walk to class, they noticed an unfamiliar face in front of them, peering through the glass windows of each classroom door.

"Are you looking for something?" Herry asked all of a sudden. It startled the girl and she jumped slightly.


	2. The First Glance

**========== Chapter 02 - The First Glance ==========**

The girl was intimidated by the group of people who surrounded her. "Er..." She began quietly, which could almost be unheard. She continued mumbling to herself.

"We can't _hear_ you if you _mumble._" Neil spoke as he looked at himself in his handheld mirror. He did not even glance at the girl when he spoke because he wanted to look his best for class instead of looking at someone else.

The girl took a deep breath and began again. "I was looking for the room of my first class..." She pulled out her timetable from the stack of books she was holding. It was placed neatly in a clear folder, probably because she did not want to crumple it.

"Let's see?" Atlanta peered over her shoulder. As she did so, she noticed that Herry, Jay and Odie were staring at the girl with wide eyes, motionless. "What are you guys staring at?" She questioned the boys with a slight humour in her tone. They snapped out of their stares and slowly looked elsewhere. Ignoring the boys, Atlanta continued to examine the girl's timetable. "Hey!" Atlanta exclaimed, "You have the same first period with me. Why don't I show you the room then?"

The girl shyly nodded. "Okay..." she answered undecidingly.

Theresa noticed that the boys (except for Neil) were once again staring at the girl. "What is wrong with you guys?" she pointed out, shaking her head. It was as if they had never seen anyone more beautiful than the girl, although, Theresa had to agree with them this time. "Come on Jay," Theresa grabbed his ear, "let's head to class instead."

"Ouch! Okay, okay!" Jay winced at the pain as he followed Theresa unwillingly. Odie and Herry followed the two, mimicking their every move in laughter. Neil, still not paying attention to things, followed Atlanta and the girl.

"So, what's your name?" Atlanta asked the girl as they walked, "I'm Atlanta."

"My name is Aurelia. I'm new to this school this year." She smiled weakly. Turning her head back and pointing, she asked, "Who is that self-absorbed person? He looks familiar..."

"Oh? He's Neil." Atlanta said briefly.

"That's me! Your average super model teenager!" he proudly replied. Aurelia could not help it but she spat out a laugh, which made Neil look up at her. It was Neil's first time looking at Aurelia and he almost dropped his mirror. Instead, his jaw dropped wide open.

"Do all guys do that when they see you?" Atlanta questioned.

Aurelia nodded and shrugged. "I don't know why though. It constantly makes me think that I have something dirty on my face or something like that."

Atlanta opened the door to the classroom and saw Archie sitting in there all alone.

"What took you guys so long?" Archie frowned as they entered. He also noticed the new girl, but he did not react as much as the other people did. "Who's that?" he asked.

"She's Aurelia," Atlanta spoke as she sat down beside him, unnoticing that he was moving around a bit in his seat, "a new student."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Archie." He greeted calmly.

"H-" Aurelia begain, but she was shortly interupted as the other students quicky filed in after the bell and the class quickly began afterwards.

* * *

After the school day ended, the gang met up to head over and see the Oracle for some answers.

"You definitely know something." Theresa began.

"Indeed I do, I know everything." The Oracle calmly replied as he picked up a cup of coffee to sip.

Theresa was waiting for an answer. "So...Then you know why we are here, and what we are going to ask you for."

"Very well." The Oracle placed his coffee down and stood up. "No, Cronus has not vanished. The prophecy that I had told the gods has been fulfilled already, yet, that is not the only prophecy."

"Hold it." Jay interrupted. "There's another prophecy?"

"That's what I just said." The Oracle continued. "You guys as a group will not be complete until you find the last and final member."

"Can you give us any details of who this person might be?" Theresa asked with hope.

The Oracle looked at them in the eyes. "It is someone you have met before. You guys should easily figure it out if you try to look carefully."

Jay nodded and turned towards the group. "You guys heard the man. Be on the lookout from now on for Cronus and the eighth member. Cronus must be on his way to track him down." The group nodded in response. "Let's separate and search from now on."

As the group left, the Oracle sat back down and shook his head from side to side. "Why does everyone always consider that it's a 'he'?" He mumbled to himself.


End file.
